Over cap brush for dispensing bottle

Abstract

An over cap brush for a squeeze dispensing bottle comprising a body injection molded as a single piece, the body being formed of a relatively soft elastomeric material, the body including a circular end wall, a generally cylindrical skirt at an outer periphery of the end wall defining a central axis and extending in one direction along the axis, the end wall having a central through hole and an outer face with a multitude of bristles distributed about the hole and extending axially from said face in a direction opposite the one direction, the skirt being of sufficient length so as to extend along the threads of a screw-on cap to retain the over cap brush on the cap by frictionally engaging the exterior of the skirt of the cap while the cap is disposed on a squeeze dispensing bottle.

1. An over cap brush for a squeeze dispensing bottle comprising a body injection molded as a single piece, the body being formed of a relatively soft elastomeric material, the body including a circular end wall, a generally cylindrical skirt integrated with and extending continuously along an outer periphery of the end wall, the skirt defining a central axis and extending in one direction along the axis, said end wall and skirt being relatively thin compared to the length of the skirt, the end wall having a central through hole and an outer face with a multitude of bristles integral with the end wall, distributed about the hole and extending axially directly from said face in a direction opposite the one direction, the skirt being of sufficient length so as to be adapted to extend along multiple threads of a separate screw-on cap to retain the over cap brush on the cap by engaging an exterior of a sidewall of the cap in a threaded area of the sidewall while the cap is disposed on a squeeze dispensing bottle and being completely separable from the cap and wherein said skirt is at least as long in axial length than one-quarter of the diameter of the body. 
     
     
       2. An over cap brush as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein said bristles are disposed in circular rows concentric with said axis. 
     
     
       3. An over cap brush as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein the end wall and skirt merge at a transition area, the transition area having an inside radius greater in dimension than the wall thickness of either the end wall or skirt. 
     
     
       4. An over cap brush as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein the respective thicknesses of the end wall and skirt and the resilience of the body material permit the skirt and end wall to be turned inside out to facilitate thorough cleaning of the interior of the body. 
     
     
       5. An over cap brush as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein the skirt is formed with a plurality of angularly spaced internal ribs extending radially inward. 
     
     
       6. An over cap brush as set forth in  claim 5 , wherein said ribs extend along substantially the full length of the skirt. 
     
     
       7. An over cap brush as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein said bristles have a length to width ratio of at least 20:1. 
     
     
       8. A combination dispensing container and brush applicator comprising a cylindrical squeeze bottle of semi-rigid plastic material and having a circular mouth with external threads, a relatively rigid screw-on dispensing cap having a generally cylindrical sidewall with internal threads matching the bottle threads and an end wall with a central aperture, a one-piece injection molded elastomeric over cap brush, the brush having a circular end wall and cylindrical skirt at the periphery of the end wall and extending from the end wall, the brush end wall and skirt each proportioned to fit over the dispensing cap, the brush end wall having a central hole alignable with a dispensing aperture of the dispensing cap and a multitude of bristles extending axially from its end wall in a direction opposite the skirt, the brush skirt being proportioned with an interference fit on the dispensing cap sidewall sufficient to retain the over cap brush on the dispensing cap when the bottle is inverted and the bristles are used to brush material dispensed from the bottle through the aperture of the dispensing cap, the cap having a spout forming said dispensing aperture, said spout being arranged to extend through said central hole of said brush. 
     
     
       9. An over cap brush for a squeeze dispensing bottle comprising a body injection molded as a single piece, the body being formed of a relatively soft elastomeric material, the body including a circular end wall, a generally cylindrical skirt at an outer periphery of the end wall defining a central axis and extending in one direction along the axis, the end wall having a central through hole and an outer face with a multitude of bristles distributed about the hole and extending axially from said face in a direction opposite the one direction, the skirt being of sufficient length so as to be adapted to extend along threads of a screw-on cap to retain the over cap brush on the cap by frictionally engaging an exterior of a sidewall of the cap while the cap is disposed on a squeeze dispensing bottle, the end wall and skirt being relatively thin compared to the length of the skirt, the respective thicknesses of the end wall and skirt and the resilience of the body material permit the skirt and end wall to be turned inside out to facilitate thorough cleaning of the interior of the body.